Children of the Tuk'un
The Children of the Tuk'un are followers of the Tuk'un, the Sun Shard. The Sun Shard is a fragment of the Great Disaster, also known as the meteor that wiped out most of the dinosaurs. How one of the shards got to their home, and how the event didn't wipe them out is a mystery to the Children. From Feral to Sentient The Children were once, like any dinosaur, feral and acting purely on instinct. They were, and still are, of the genus Utahraptor ostrommaysorum. Even after the event, they remained in a feral state of mind for years, several family lines branching away from one another in their secluded, underground home and forming what would later be known of the Six Clans of the Children. The first clan to learn speech was the Tuk'ta, or the First of the Shard. They also discovered the Tuk'un itself, deeming it a holy relic and claiming that they got their new state of mind from contact with it. While it was long debated among the Children afterward, it has since been proven that the shard has no such properties, and merely is a relic of another time and age. Over time, the other five Clans evolved to learn speech and greater thought capacity as well, and each of them took a name for their clan; Claw, Talon, Feather, Heart, and Seer. Each of the clans came together to start building the city of Tuk'kata, or City of the Sun, their Temple City that exists to this day. Over time, they learned to read and write, and while they never became as scientifically advanced as the surface dwellers above, they became just as advanced as a culture as any western civilization. Culture Architecture See also: Temple City Once they moved away from nesting and into more permanent shelter, the Children of Tuk'un learned to mine the stone walls around them, and then use that stone to construct their great city. While the jungle surrounding it has many small settlements and outposts, the main city itself is designed in a very Aztec-style, with large pyramids surrounded by smaller 'cities', with each pyramid being held by a Clan. Currency Early in their history, the Six Clans formed a form of currency that was still used up until the surface opened to them. That currency being golden feathers, for they were the rarest feather colour for one to be born with, since only one out of every fifty is born with golden feathers, and they are instantly fawned upon and sought out by the Clan Heads to give that clan extra power. The wealthiest clan in modern times, before the surface opened and surfacer currency was used, belonged to that of the Seer clan. Due to their ability to conscript talented individuals at birth, they frequently had an interest in gold-feathered offspring, and several times even attempted to breed two gold feathers together to try and get more. To date, only Goud Brightseer has been able to produce golden-feathered offspring consistently, ending up with some twenty-two children with that feather colour, which led to a huge inflation in prices as a result of that line of breeding. Language While they can speak the surfacer tongues fairly well, somehow having evolved to speak the common tongue before ever going to the surface, but equally they speak using calls between one another. While not a true language, per se, they tones and notes were ingrained since the Mindless Times, and usually is the first 'language' their kind learned to speak. They occasionally will use that birth language among surfacers as well, usually during times of great emotion or distress. Bird-like calls, high note shrieks, and cries of various sorts are all common in such situations. To surface creatures and the creatures in the underground jungle around their home city, some of those cries chill the blood while others have a different effect. It depends on the one hearing it, by large, Literature While they have no great tomes or libraries, the religious sect of the Tuk does keep a written history in their section of the Temple City. Usually, however, any notes or letters are carved into stone by specially made chisels. Their lettering, before they were discovered by the surface, was reminiscent to ancient Greek symbols, but very few of their species knew how to actually write due to the utter lack of need to do so. The only time that writing was truly used on a grand scale was during the civil war, where speaking the wrong thing could get one killed. Religious Impact ''See also: ''Tuk'un Beyond having adopted a form of currency, their culture is fairly complex and is reminiscent of surfacer cultures in many ways. A big part of their culture, of course, stems from their religion, the Tak'un, such as the harems and the education system. The harems branch from old times, where powerful males would sire clutches with a small harem of females he earned during breeding season, and that practice continued up to, and through, the surfacer incident. But now it was used politically as well, with harems being formed to unite bloodlines or to increase the strength of the head of the harem. As well, males aren't the only ones at the head of the harem anymore; female harem leaders, while rare, have occured several times during the Children of the Tuk'un's history, such as in modern history with Idowu Barbclaw. A female harem consists of the lead female and her chosen males, then her sisters and daughters. She breeds them all as she pleases, or depending on need, restricts their right to breeding; and few are willing to break that restriction and breed within the harem, for they would lose the luxuries and prestige of the title. The other impact is on the education system, where there are two different versions of learning. There is the standard education, where one learns of the history and culture of the Children, and joins the Great Hunt when they are of age, or they become pederasty, attaching themselves to a Master and usually joining their harem during the duration of their education. While most become freelancers later in their education, some stay on as permanent additions to said harem, sometimes becoming the favorite mate of their former teacher. It isn't uncommon for same-sex education to be used as well, and in fact is usually more common in this form of education than in traditional learning and harem-attachment. Of course, for some there is a third option as well, becoming members of the Tuk, the religious sect. Usually, those not brave enough to finish the hunt or those who merely wish a scholarly pursuit to the world join the Tuk, for they give up quite a lot of their freedom. Celibacy, while not enforced, is popularly practiced by the Tuk and their students, as a sign of their faith. Genetics and Oddities